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Monday, November 29, 2010

Oh, thank goodness -- my Christmas mantel is done. Call 911 because, of course, the rest of the house looks like a glitter bomb went off. But, the mantel is done and I'm hooking up with sweet Layla @ *The Lettered Cottage* for a party!

My friend, Paula, gave me the bird cage and adorable ornaments for Christmas. She has great taste.

I was so excited I decided to do my mantel a little different this year using her gift and birds I gathered from around the house.

I popped the painting out of its frame ("popped" really makes it sound easier than it actually was) and hung letters I made from cardboard and glitter on the wire.

I threw some "snow" on the logs in the fireplace.

It was fun doing something a little different this year!

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*To see the PARTIES I link to and to join in the fun,CLICK HERE
or check out my sweet hostesses on my sidebar!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I'm not saying it was ugly, exactly, because at one time I was deeply and madly in love with this little trunk. But now? Well, let's just say the relationship was on the rocks, a legal separation was in the works and I was moving on -- looking for something new to fill the
empty spot in my heart living room.

Before

So what would the perfect replacement look like?

Well, after scouring the thrift stores looking for something in need of a face lift that would fit my needs (and cost me nearly nothing) I would probably have come up with something like this.....

That's right. The answer, with a little tweaking, was right there all along.

I removed most of the studs, sanded off as much of the painting as I could, and stained the entire piece heavily. Using painters tape, the new won't pull everything off kind, I taped off the stripes and painted them antique gold letting some of the stain come through. In this case -- sloppy was good.

After

After some serious counseling (for me, not the trunk) we're now back together and doing well...

I hooking up with

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*To see the PARTIES I link to and to join in the fun,CLICK HERE
or check out my sweet hostesses on my sidebar!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

I don’t recall where I got the piece of wood... I'd hung on to it with the idea of making this cutting board. It had to be old (and not JUST dirty) because it was a full inch thick - unlike the ¾ inch thick 1 inch boards you find today.

It had nail holes and stains to die for. For obvious reasons, I only use this for decoration and not for food prep - I don’t really prep much food, anyway.

It was simple (raise your hand if you hate to hear me use that word) to make. I folded a piece of printer paper in half to make a pattern, cutting a little away at the time. Then I opened it up to check until I got the shape I wanted.

After tracing it onto the wood I used my jig-saw to cut it out, my drill to add a hole in the handle and my sander to smooth it.

This was slow going due to the thickness of the board but I resisted looking around for a dirty ¾ inch piece…

All that was left was to rub it down with a little tung oil to bring out all its great flaws. Charming, huh? Here are some other ways I've used this old cutting board…

This cutting board has been around the block. I mean that in a good way....

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*To see the PARTIES I link to and to join in the fun,CLICK HERE
or check out my sweet hostesses on my sidebar!